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Ailing 81-Year-Old Fugitive Nabbed 43 Years After Prison Escape
FoxNews.com ^ | February 27, 2008

Posted on 02/28/2008 12:52:32 AM PST by Slings and Arrows

CLINTON, N.C. — Eighty-one-year-old Willie Parker has had trouble getting around since suffering a stroke, and his right arm curls inward as correctional officers help him move about the Sampson County jail.

But he's made the most of his time there since his arrest last week, 43 years after walking away from a prison work detail in Maryland.

"They call me 'Pops,"' Parker said of his fellow inmates, adding that he advises the younger men to "leave other people's stuff alone. When you come in this world, you didn't come to stay. You came to visit. This is not your home."

The hobbled old man was finally tracked down as part of Maryland's effort to clear more than 80 outstanding warrants, and his arrest has many wondering if it was worth the effort.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; US: Maryland; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS:
If he's looking for sympathy he can check the dictionary between "sh*t" and "syphillis".
1 posted on 02/28/2008 12:52:36 AM PST by Slings and Arrows
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To: Slings and Arrows

Ha... Too funny.

Was it a waste of time and money to track him down? I don’t think so. It is good training for our law enforcement, and it helps reinforce the mindset that our officers are not the judge, jury, or executioner. If someone has an outstanding warrant, haul them in and let the court decide how to handle it.


2 posted on 02/28/2008 12:58:55 AM PST by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
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To: Slings and Arrows
LaWanda Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Justice Policy Institute, also questioned the arrest, saying the cost of extraditing Parker will far exceed any public safety benefit

He didn't do his time, and apparently committed some other offenses after his escape. What is the message here; if you evade capture long enough it's olly-olly oxen free?

3 posted on 02/28/2008 12:59:51 AM PST by CaptRon (Pedicaris alive or Raisuli dead)
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To: Slings and Arrows
Parker served about 10 years of a 40-year sentence for robbery with a deadly weapon, decided that was enough and left the Eastern Correctional Camp in Maryland.

Wow, so he's the guv'ner...allowed to commute his own sentence?

He had been arrested several times under different identities in places around the country, but he had lived a quiet life recently.

Not exactly living a quiet life after the escape, until recently.

Parker, who also served time in Washington state, said he was told during that sentence that Maryland had dropped its detainer on him, and he went back to using his real name once he was released. Parker said he later lived in New York, where he worked for the city collecting money from parking meters. He said he was fingerprinted and passed a background check for that job.

Well, at least Giuliani isn't going to be the nominee, so we don't have to look forward to Willie Parker ads!

4 posted on 02/28/2008 1:00:37 AM PST by Gondring (I'll give up my right to die when hell freezes over my dead body!)
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To: Slings and Arrows

Yeah yeah yeah... they caught him.

Not that it’s going to be much of a change for him. 81 years old? in frail health? How is his quality of life going to change?

He’s going to be in a hospital soon until he passes away. I doubt the care in the prison hospital is going to be much different than a regular hospital since he probably has no way to pay either way.


5 posted on 02/28/2008 1:24:32 AM PST by Ronin (Bushed out!!! Another tragic victim of BDS.)
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To: Slings and Arrows

I think this much too do about nothing at this stage!

Why because in his day it was 40 years today it it’s about 6 -8 years or less for the same crime.

The guy is close to checking out, I also agree those cells could be used for young trouble maker!

And Slings and Arrows what’s with offensive posting the person you intended it for is not here only freepers of various ages!

Good grief!


6 posted on 02/28/2008 1:43:19 AM PST by restornu (Maybe your are a church mouse! cheese cheese...)>)
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To: Gondring
Wow, so he's the guv'ner...allowed to commute his own sentence?

"We released ourselves on our own recognizance."

7 posted on 02/28/2008 1:52:32 AM PST by ReignOfError
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Feb. 22, 2008: Longtime fugitive Willie Parker, 81, poses at the Sampson County jail in Clinton, N. C.

"They call me 'Pops,"' Parker said of his fellow inmates, adding that he advises the younger men to "leave other people's stuff alone. When you come in this world, you didn't come to stay. You came to visit. This is not your home."

8 posted on 02/28/2008 1:53:25 AM PST by restornu (Maybe your are a church mouse! cheese cheese...)>)
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To: restornu

I’m sure there’s no problem with letting him serve in minimum security. Or even in a prison nursing home — and if Corrections doesn’t have one, they’ll need one soon. With mandatory sentences and three-strikes, the population of elderly prisoners is growing and won’t shrink soon.

I don’t think there’s any point in keeping him in maximum security or putting him in the general population. I do think there is value in at least trotting in front of the cameras and into the prison to make a couple of points. First, if you decide to run, you will not run out the clock.

Second, let the young guys who think they’re badassess see the doddering old farts still behind bars, pushed along in a wheelchair and wearing a diaper. The gangstas don’t care about their lives and don’t fear incarceration, and I think that indignity would make more of an impression than either.


9 posted on 02/28/2008 2:12:37 AM PST by ReignOfError
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To: Slings and Arrows

When will Sirhan Sirhan be paroled? I know, dumb question.


10 posted on 02/28/2008 4:08:11 AM PST by Waco
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To: ReignOfError

I agree with your points. We must get the message out there to them, else there’s no deterrence.


11 posted on 02/28/2008 4:54:02 AM PST by Gondring (I'll give up my right to die when hell freezes over my dead body!)
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To: CaptRon
the cost of extraditing Parker will far exceed any public safety benefit

We now need to determine the cost/benefit ratio before the state proceeds ?

High value targets: Hate crime, Anti-PC crime,Crime against a Kennedy...

No value targets:Crime against property, Crime by the 'poor', Crime by a Kennedy...

12 posted on 02/28/2008 5:34:55 AM PST by DUMBGRUNT (The best is the enemy of the good!)
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To: Slings and Arrows

....one of the local stories here in NC said they want to pass this guy back to Maryland as quick as they can....prison officials figure his health care costs will run an EXTRA $5000 a year....aging prisoners are straining DOC budgets nation wide....and it’s only going to get worse.


13 posted on 02/28/2008 5:49:26 AM PST by STONEWALLS
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To: Abundy; Albion Wilde; AlwaysFree; AnnaSASsyFR; bayliving; BFM; cindy-true-supporter; ...

Codger on the run...

Maryland “Freak State” PING!


14 posted on 02/28/2008 6:10:52 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Cloverfield 2008! Why vote for a lesser monster?)
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